The Rose and The Beast

Death in Venice has become one of the most widely read and influential books ever written.

A stunning novella and tour de force, it is one of the most hauntingly magnificent tales of art and self-destruction ever written, and reveals the astounding range, subtlety, artistry, and depth of thought of a true literary master, Thomas Mann.

Published in hundreds of editions and translated into virtually every modern language, it has not been out of print since 1912.

It can be found on countless lists of the finest literary works of all time, and is one of Mann’s major achievements.

THOMAS MANN (1875-1955), transformed the art of fiction. The Nobel Prize winning author of numerous novels and short stories, including Buddenbrooks, Joseph and his Brothers, The Black Swan, and The Magic Mountain, he is considered to be a literary colossus, and a central figure in the development of the modern novel. 

PHILIP DOSSICK is the New York Times critically acclaimed writer and director of the motion picture The P.O.W. He has written for television, including the outstanding drama, Transplant, produced by David Susskind for CBS. His most recent books include Aztecs: Epoch Of Social Revolution, Sex And Dreams, Mark Twain In Seattle, Oscar Wilde: Sodomy and Heresy, The Naked Citizen: Notes On Privacy In The Twenty-First Century, Raymond Chowder And Bob Skloot Must Die, The Deposition, Vincent Van Gogh: Madness and Magic, Lenny Bruce: The Myth of Free Speech, and Ghost Dance Prophets: From Martin Luther King to Mahatma Gandhi.

Chimerascope [ki-meer-uh-skohp] — a story of many parts...

A young artist hungers to draw you.
A dinner conversation takes three lifetimes to finish.
A geologist faces a planet-sized, eons-old puzzle to save her crew.
The hero of the Fall of Earth must choose between love and revenge.
A mysterious dancer leads a businessman to a most exclusive nightclub.
A man is born each day into a new life—only to die each night.
A sentient aurora threatens the last of humanity.
A Norse god’s bar in Toronto hosts an unplanned family reunion.
A woman descends into insanity—or is it the end of the world?
A house as big as the world.

Chimerascope is Doug's first full collection of short fiction, containing sixteen of his best stories, including an award winner, a Best New Horror selection, and eight award finalists. Sixteen stories of fantasy and science fiction that take you from love in fourteenth-century Japan to humanity’s last stand, from virtual reality to the end of reality, from alien drug addictions to a dinner where a man loses everything.

Finalist for the Sunburst Award, the Aurora Award, and the Canadian Broadcast Corporation’s “Bookies Award

REVIEWS

"A massively enjoyable trek ... all filtered through Smith's remarkable imagination and prodigious talent. ... Smith's writing, evocative yet understated, gracefully brings to life his imagined realms." --Quill and Quire, *Starred Review*

"Showcases the inventive mind and immense storytelling talent of one of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." --Library Journal

"A beautifully diverse selection of short tales that runs the full spectrum of the speculative genres. The tales are well-crafted, easily digestible; several of the stories are incredibly moving and stick with the reader long after." --2011 Sunburst Award jury

"A gifted writer ... Smith paints his worlds so well that you are transported within a paragraph or two and remain in transit until the short story ends." --Broken Pencil Magazine

"An entertaining selection of stories that deftly span multiple genres" --Publishers Weekly
 
"An engaging and entertaining volume, pieces of whose content resonate after the book is finished." --Booklist

"Douglas Smith is an extraordinary author whom every lover of quality speculative fiction should read. Rating: A+" --Fantasy Book Critic

"Speaks volumes of his range and future potential. ... Smith is definitely an author who deserves to be more widely read." --Strange Horizons

"A superb collection... a collection you'll want to own and re-read. ... It's a complex mix: one of the many reasons this collection succeeds so powerfully." --Ideomancer Magazine

"An absolutely stunning short story collection ... one of the best I've ever read." --Corey Redekop, award-winning author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

"Doug Smith is, quite simply, the finest short-story writer Canada has ever produced in the science fiction and fantasy genres, and he's also the most prolific. His stories are a treasure trove of riches that will touch your heart while making you think." --Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author

"One of Canada's most original writers of speculative fiction." --Library Journal

"A great storyteller with a gifted and individual voice." --Charles de Lint, award winning author

Douglas Smith is an award-winning Canadian author of speculative fiction, with over a hundred short story publications in thirty countries and twenty-five languages.

His collections include Chimerascope (2010) and Impossibilia (2008), as well as the translated fantasy collection, La Danse des Esprits (France, 2011). His first novel, The Wolf at the End of the World, will be released in 2013.

Doug has twice won Canada's Aurora Award, and has been a finalist for the international John W. Campbell Award, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Bookies Award, Canada's juried Sunburst Award, and France's juried Prix Masterton and Prix Bob Morane.

A multi-award winning film based on Doug's story "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down" will be released on DVD this year, and other films based on his stories are in the works. Doug's website is smithwriter.com and he tweets at twitter.com/smithwritr.

Police officer Dora Henry is investigating the bizarre murders of three geneticists. Meanwhile, strange things are happening everywhere she turns. Weeds are becoming trees; trees are becoming forests. Overnight, a city is being transformed into a wild and verdant place.

And, strangest of all, Dora can somehow communicate with the rampaging flora.

A potential civilization-ending catastrophe is in the making. The bearer Dora gets to a murderer--and to the truth--the more seemingly disparate events begin to entwine. And the answers she seeks today to the salvation of humankind may lie in afar distant future. . .one which is suddenly much closer than anyone imagines.

An exhilarating and enchanting novel that deftly combines fantastic invention with insight and a social conscience, from one of the most lyrical and important voices in contemporary speculative fiction.

Police officer Dora Henry is investigating the bizarre murders of three geneticists. Meanwhile, strange things are happening everywhere she turns. Weeds are becoming trees; trees are becoming forests. Overnight, a city is being transformed into a wild and verdant place.

And, strangest of all, Dora can somehow communicate with the rampaging flora.

A potential civilization-ending catastrophe is in the making. The bearer Dora gets to a murderer--and to the truth--the more seemingly disparate events begin to entwine. And the answers she seeks today to the salvation of humankind may lie in afar distant future. . .one which is suddenly much closer than anyone imagines.

?There?s something you need to know about Emily...?

In the year 2404, America is no more. In a land ruled by the oppressive theocracy known as the Dominion of Divinity, being gay is a capital offense, adultery is punished with the lash, women are forbidden to work, and forced marriages are common.

Fifteen-year-old Emily La Rouche faces an impossible choice. On her sixteenth birthday, she will be forced to marry Jonathan Marsh, the son of her landlord. If she refuses, her family will lose everything. If she takes his hand, it is certain that her life will end by a hangman?s noose in front of an angry mob. All because Emily has been hiding an enormous secret for years?she was born a boy. As the wedding approaches, Emily?s parents realize the only way that she will be safe is if she is to escape the Dominion.

With her brother Aaron at her side, Emily flees across post-apocalyptic America in search for a new home. With vile bounty hunters on her trail, only time will tell if Emily will ever find a place where she can live and breathe free as the person she was always meant to be.